Buffy and the rise of the Dark Templar
by defiasstone2
Summary: What if Xander found a costume in Ethan's that very much appealed to his nerdiness? The Dark Templar Zeratul suddenly awakens from his final fight, to find himself in a very different galaxy than he remembers. But Zeratul has always been one to act for the greater good, and if in doing so he aids the rise of a new power in the Buffyverse, then so be it. WARNING LOTV Spoilers!
1. A new awakening

Xander couldn't believe what he found at Ethan's store when he and the rest of the Scoobies had gone costume shopping for halloween. In fact judging by the confused look on the man's face as Xander approached him with the item in question at the counter, the man didn't realise what Xander had found either. Starcraft had been out for just over a year and, being the geek he rather proudly professed himself to be, Xander had just about managed to afford the game second hand from one of his friends.

The bracer would have been impossible to link with the game had it not been for the large green emerald, probably glass given the shop, placed decoratively near the upper end of the thing. Xander had seen enough art from the game, both official and fan based, to recognise the bracer as being a cast of Zeratul's warp blade. All thoughts of being a soldier on Halloween left his head instantly, especially when Ethan offered him less than five bucks not only for the bracer but the tattered almost black purple robes that Xander had found near it.

He imagined nobody else would get his costume, but that didn't matter, in his mind the chance to be the enigmatic anti-hero that was Zeratul could not be cast aside like this. Besides, if he modified the rest of the costume a little bit, people would probably just think he had dressed up as a shinobi or something.

Little did Xander know that as he walked out of Ethan's shop, a small figure who had been watching from the corner of the shop smiled before disappearing in a light haze of smoke. The gift had been given, now all there was to do was wait, it was up to Xander to do something with it...

!"£$%^&*

Zeratul awoke quite sharply, not something he had expected to ever do again given his last memory was of the end of his final fight with the corrupted Artanis, the sharp pain of his chest wound still burning deep in his chest. Looking round, he recognised he was in what looked to be a Terran dwelling, though the architecture and materials of construction seemed more in tune with some of the pictures friend Raynor had shown him of The Terran's original home planet Earth.

"Xander! Whoa..." The voice startled him slightly, spinning round and activating his warp blade only to find himself looking at a young Terran redhead that was quite similar to the pictures of Kerrigan before she became the Queen of Blades. The ignition of the warp blade made the girl jump, though she made no sound as she landed, explaining why Zeratul hadn't been alerted to her approach.

"Xander? Please tell me that you are still in whatever it is you are dressed as? Something hellmouthy is going on..." Zeratul realised two things at this point, firstly that the redhead thought he was one of her comrades and therefore almost definitely meant him no harm, and that he could feel a second psionic presence in his mind.

It was weak enough that Zeratul hadn't felt it at first, but when this redhead had appeared it had started trying to take control of his body, even though it was weak enough that Zeratul could probably crush it in moments if he wanted to. He didn't know what was going on, but if his time fighting against Amon had shown him anything, it was that fate rarely made things happen for a reason.

" _Peace young Terran, I apologise for my earlier aggression, the circumstances of my arrival were quite... Jarring."_ De-igniting his warp blade to show his good faith, Zeratul felt the presence inside of him calm as well, this Xander's desire to protect his comrades was strong indeed if he had been prepared to fight an obviously superior psionic being in an effort to save this redhead.

"So... You're not Xander then? Do you have any idea where you are? Who I am?" Zeratul didn't have any idea in regards to either question, but luckily for the girl he was rather proficient at mind reading due to extensive practice with Terran's and the Queen of Blades.

The boy's memories came with only a modicum of resistance, Zeratul's ire aroused more by the brief memories of this Xander's childhood before the memories swiftly shifted to more recent events. He recognised the Terran in front of him now from those memories, the love this Xander felt for her only matched in his experience by Jim Raynor and his feelings for Kerrigan, though Xander didn't seem to realise what his love meant yet.

" _No, I am not Xander young Willow, I am Zeratul of the Protoss dark Templar. I have psionic abilities that have allowed me to glean most of the pertinent information from the boy, but the present situation has me at a loss. Is my arrival here something to do with this Hellmouth you spoke of?"_ Zeratul suspected it was, given what he had seen in Xander's memories of the events linked to this Sunnydale, but the boy's rather simplified memories of how the Hellmouth worked meant he couldn't be sure.

"I assume so, I kind of just assume that anything crazy is Hellmouth related now. We seem to have turned into what we dressed up as. Let's find Buffy, she's the Slayer so she will know what to do... Unless she's changed as well." Deciding it was probably not a good idea to voice Xander's question, what kind of ghost she was meant to be given the halter top and very short skirt, Zeratul instead cast his eyes around for the blonde that Xander's memories conjured at the mention of this Buffy character.

" _Over there, but it would probably be best if you approach her first, if she has also changed then she will probably be... uncomfortable with my presence."_ A slight understatement given the looks of shock and horror on Terran's faces back in the Korpulu sector, and those were humans who knew Protoss existed.

"Good idea, no offence Mr Zeratul but the whole glowing blade thing and the whole non-human thing probably doesn't help, not that I'm saying you are scary or anything... I'm rambling, I will go grab Buffy..." As the redhead moved off towards Buffy, who was obviously distressed as she looked around at the others who had been transformed with abject horror, Zeratul summoned the shadows closer to him so that he could be a little less obvious.

It was a lot harder than it usually was, but that made sense as this wasn't his actual body and he definitely wasn't on Aiur anymore, Zeratul was just pleased he could pull it off at all. Seeing Willow speak to Buffy for a couple of minutes without much success, Zeratul decided it would be a good idea to get their official meeting out of the way now before anything else happened. Walking up from where he had covertly been listening in, Zeratul knelt to one knee and spoke quickly, an idea from Xander appearing in his head that would probably work best.

" _My lady, I know my appearance frightens you but I mean you no harm, I am a shinobi from Japan."_ To Zeratul's surprise Buffy looked him over for a moment before nodding her head in understanding.

"Father always said the Far East was filled with all types of wonders and monsters, no wonder he wasn't keen on me accompanying him out there. But he had good things to say about the shinobi he hired, so I will diregard your appearance for now, I'm sure it is some kind of mask meant to terrify your enemies. What of these demons though? And how did I get here?" Despite her obvious terror and confusion, this woman Buffy had turned into obviously was still rather intelligent, meaning Zeratul could appeal to her logic and reason above anything else.

" _We have all been kidnapped by dark forces my lady, this land is as unfamiliar to me as it is to you, though with our local guide to help us find safety and my blade as protection we will remain safe until we work out what has occurred here."_ Not exactly the truth, but Zeratul thought it better than trying to convince the girl that they were just costumes, they didn't have time for those arguments.

"Very well Shinobi-san, I will trust your judgement in these dark times. Young guide, I did not get your name, where is safe for us to wait out this madness?" Zeratul smiled even as look of shock passed over Willow's face, and he felt the mental force that was Xander try and get him to high five, he missed Terran interactions...

!"£$%^&*

Zeratul twisted in the air as gracefully as he could manage, impaling another one of the vampires that had attacked them directly in its open maw, the fiend exploding into a rather unsavoury pile of dust a moment later.

"How are you all getting defeated by one man... Well thing, and the glowing sword is pretty cool, but there are at least a dozen of you and he's all alone whilst I dealt with the traitor... How is he still kicking your arses?" Landing with the softest of thuds, Zeratul wished this was his actual body and not some strange transformation of a Terran's.

He had only been able to shadow walk 3 times before the strain had become too much, he could probably pull off one last blink before he did some serious damage to Xander's body. This blonde vampire, Spike, had managed to catch the group off guard as they attempted to track the course of the spell. And whilst nearly all of the civilians had made it inside, the young lady Buffy had been caught by the vampires before that could happen, Angel being captured after fighting both Spike and half a dozen vampires at the same time.

" _Perhaps it is because they fight more like younglings than warriors, their attacks are so predictable I could defeat them even without my blade... Given your arrogance, I wouldn't be surprised if you were no better, Spike was it?"_ Zeratul knew he had to keep the vampires distracted, it was like many of the missions he had helped run against the Zerg and The various dark powers that controlled them at one point or another.

"Oh well, I'm sure you wouldn't be so confident of that mate if you didn't have that bloody thing on." Zeratul sighed mentally as he saw a couple of vampires trying to break into the building the others had gone into, the problem with being the distraction was that he always had to put himself at such a disadvantage...

" _Well then... 'Mate.' How about you come prove me wrong?"_ With a shake of his hand Zeratul deactivated his blade, sweeping up a stone at the same time from the ground and launching it at Spike.

"What the... Get the bastard, and make sure he dies slowly." Spike had dodged the rock, but he hadn't been the target, the sharpened edge of the stone slicing into the face of one of the vampires holding Angel and causing him to loosen his grip, just as Zeratul had intended.

The other vampires didn't notice as they charged towards him with a small group of possessed Terran's in various forms moving to assist them, Angel freeing himself from captivity with a sharp elbow to his other captor's face. Zeratul was not worried about the vampires, even without his blade they were no match in comparison to Kerrigan, the various hybrid he had combatted or Artanis in his last fateful battle. The possessed Terrans were also easy to deal with, their minds easy to influence into leaving this place even as he flying kicked the first vampire in the chest, several bones shattering audibly as the vampire flew backwards into one of the others.

Ducking under a claw swipe and deflecting a punch, Zeratul let himself become enveloped in the glorious feeling of battle once more, unleashing a beating on these vampires that they definitely weren't expecting. He was tiring though, Zeratul knew that even as Spike finally joined the fight, he had to give the mouthy vampire credit for being a cold strategist at the very least. His dodges had turned to deflections which turned into bone numbing blocks as he weathered the vampire's furious assault.

Finally one of the white haired vampire's strikes made it past Zeratul's guard, sending him flying back against a car with a thud. Angel would be of no assistance to him as Spike stalked up with a smirk on his face, the friendly vampire barely preventing himself being buried under the weight of possessed Terrans attacking him, but as a pulse of yellow light erupted from the shop behind Spike Zeratul couldn't help but feel satisfied even as Spike picked him up.

"Not so cocky now are you? I wonder what your blood will taste like, though I suppose I shall wait till I have dealt with the Slayer before trying yours, though I can break a few bones before the pretty little maiden is ready to be served..."

"Aww, you called me pretty..." The high heeled boot to the face definitely surprised Spike, Buffy spinning in the air to land in a ready stance, though even Zeratul had to admit it was a lot less intimidating in the ridiculous dress she was in.

"Fuck, that hurt bitch... Well I think that's a signal for us to scarper then..." To his credit Spike actually stayed until his injured followers had managed to hobble away, though whether that was to spend more time glaring at Buffy Zeratul didn't know.

"Thank god, I really would not have enjoyed fighting in this thing... Xander, you in there? The spell is broken, why haven't you changed back?" Buffy was looking at him with honest concern in her eyes, so Zeratul felt he should explain what he was doing before he fully faded.

" _I am still here because I am maintaining the change with my own strength now young Slayer. The road you all walk is dangerous and I can see that young Xander will do his best to stay by your side regardless of his own lack of skills, so I am giving him a gift that should help with his desire to fight by your side._ " The fact that Xander wanted to do more than that with the young slayer went unsaid, primarily because Zeratul felt the young man had to build up the courage to explain that himself.

As he condensed the last of his memories to do with combat and fed them to Xander's subconscious, Zeratul felt his control slip and his sight faded, Zeratul relaxing into the welcoming void that awaited him after sending one last message to Xander's mind.

" _Learn well, young Terran, it will be interesting to watch the legacy of my kind be passed unto yours..."_

 **A/N: I can already see the reviews asking me predominantly why did I bother, my question is... Why not? I think the introduction of Zeratul to the Buffy universe, as well as passing along his combat style for Xander to learn would be quite interesting. Maybe it's just me, but let me know what you think guys!**


	2. A first noticeable change

Xander first realised something had actually changed within him, from the still blurry memories of Haloween, when one of the jocks tried to shoulder barge past him the next day. Usually such an event would have sent Xander tumbling to the floor, much to the amusement of the jock and his friends, but not today.

"What the?" The jock had evidently been surprised as Xander shifted to the side effortlessly to avoid the contact, probably putting a lot of weight behind the attempted ram was a bad idea, the jock stumbling even as his friends stood in shock as Xander weaved between them before they could react.

"Xander?" At Willow's questioning enunciation of his name Xander could only shrug non-committedly.

"Before you ask, I have no idea how I did that... I definitely didn't do it on purpose." And judging by Jason's glare, the jock who had tried to shoulder him and who was now getting mocked by his friends, there would be trouble for showing him up later.

"Possibly just some reflexes in your system left over last night, that Zeratul guy was really fast when he needed to be..." Xander nodded at Willow's logical explanation, though he noticed Buffy's thoughtful look and brought her in for a one armed hug.

"You okay there Buffy? You seem a little more zoned out than usual today, or did deadboy not let you sleep last night?" Whilst most of the scoobies had accepted Angel after some initial caution, the only thing Xander did remember from the night before was that Zeratul did not trust Angel, enough at least that he had sent the vampire to the front of the group where he could keep an eye on him.

"Xander! Angel helped me carry you back to yours after Zeratul left and you passed out, you could try being nicer to him you know. And... It's nothing, we can discuss it during our free period in the library." It was obviously not nothing, but Xander couldn't push any further as the bell rang for class, which thankfully only meant a short walk to the computer lab where Ms Calendar would be waiting...

The feeling that something was off didn't go away however, Xander now realising that he was noticing things that normally would have passed him by without a second thought, eyes tracking a fruit fly as it winged its way in front of him. With growing suspicion Xander went to grab the fly in mid air, his hand shifting trajectory almost by itself as the fly tried to deviate from it's impending doom, his hand enveloping it with a cruel finality a moment later.

Now, catching a fruit fly is hardly Buffy-esque impressive, but given Xander's self admitted lack of hand eye coordination it was more than slightly disconcerting to suddenly be able to perform a feat that he had previously fluffed up more times than he could count. Given his possession by the Hyena spirit, along with what he knew had been another possession last night, Xander was definitely very edgy about ignoring such obvious signs again. As such, when the bell rang for the end of class, he was one of the first out of the door and on his way to the library.

"Xander, wait up!" Despite his concern that he was being hellmouthed again, when Willow asked/told him to wait up then he was always going to slow down.

"Sorry Wils, but we need to see Giles right now..." Thankfully Willow didn't question him on his urgency, merely matching his pace and looping her arm with his reassuringly. Buffy caught up with them just as they reached the library, voicing her question as the doors closed behind them.

"So Xander, what has gotten your pants in such a bunch? Even my Slayer senses aren't going off..." Xander chuckled slightly despite his anxiety, it was nice to hear Buffy fire one of his lame jokes back at him in an attempt to relax him, though he decided to do something potentially stupid to try and prove his point.

"Buffy, I need you to try and punch me." Buffy looked at him with a mix of amusement and bafflement before buffing her nails against her jacket.

"Heh. Well first Xander, we know that if I wanted to hit you Xander I would hit you, there is no try. And secondly I thought you didn't enjoy being my punching bag in training, why would you want to start an impromptu fight now? Being Zeratul last night not good enough for you..." To save himself what was going to be a prolonged argument, that wouldn't get them anywhere, Xander decided the more direct approach was going to be more fruitful.

Xander would have normally not bothered to pull a punch against Buffy, even if he was taking her by surprise like he was now, simply because she was always on another level than him even on his best day. But this time he was glad he held back, as Buffy caught his fist with a frown, showing she hadn't expected him to be as fast as he was.

"Okay Xander, you're on!" Okay, maybe pissing Buffy off by surprise attacking her wasn't the best idea, the Slayer batting his hand away from where she caught it before unleashing a trio of jabs at his chest.

Normally the three punch combo would have Xander reeling backwards and struggling to breath, but this time Xander felt himself his body react far faster than he ever had before, blocking the first two strikes before the third made it through his guard. The strike smarted, but if there was something you could say about Xander's advantages, a high pain tolerance was definitely a plus.

Xander knew that just letting Buffy go on the offensive would end badly for him, so to prove his point he let himself embrace these new instincts and flew forwards, deflecting Buffy's attempted strike to make him back off with an ease he didn't think was possible. She blocked his attempted kick with both hands, though Xander merely used her block as a surface to push off against, his body protesting at the strain he was putting it through even as he back flipped away from her.

"What is going on here?" Given the slight stumble he made as he landed and the pain that erupted from his right leg, Xander had never been so happy to hear the stuffy English accent of Giles in his life.

"Trying to... Argh this sucks, trying to prove to Buffy there is something hellmouthy going on with me, didn't think I would try something as stupid as acrobatics to prove it..." Giles was staring at him in confusion and Xander sighed, preparing himself for a long attempt at explaining himself.

"Giles, Xander just pulled off a near perfect backflip from a leaping kick, I don't think I could pull it off so well without some practice. I think he has a point, maybe something from yesterday stuck around? Zeratul made it sound like he was trying something..." Buffy was standing up for him now at least, that was something... Wait, what?

"You knew Zeratul was trying something and you didn't tell me Buffy? What if he had messed up and I'd ended up being possessed by some demon? Or even worse, what if he'd turned me into a girl or something?" As annoyed as Xander was that Buffy had only now decided to mention this to him now, the relief that whatever was happening wasn't malevolent meant he could squeeze in a joke, Willow rolling her eyes at his immaturity whilst Buffy dusted herself off before moving to help Xander limp over to one of the chairs.

"I have never encountered magic of this kind before, I would have to contact some friends I have in the Council, see if they have any information that may help us..." Typical Giles response, though Xander felt glad that at least someone was looking into it, meaning that whilst the man would undoubtedly be busy for the next couple of hours he could instead turn his attention elsewhere.

"Sorry Xander, I assumed you had kept your memories of last night like I had, probably should of checked but I really don't want to remember..." Ah okay, Xander felt a little bad now for accusing Buffy of hiding things from him, given the description Willow had given him of Buffy's new personality it was probably a rather dark nightmare for the Slayer.

"Everything's all blurry, it's not as if I don't remember anything at all, it's more like the thoughts are all... jumbled. Everytime I try and actually make sense of what I am seeing I feel like I am battering my head against a steel girder." Probably not the best description ever, but he wasn't Willow dammit.

"Well, Zeratul was an alien, perhaps his thoughts are wired differently to yours? Don't worry though, we will help you sort your head out." Willow's comment brought a smile to his face even as he brought her into a one armed embrace, Buffy stepping up to his other side a moment later.

"What little bit of it wasn't already goo due to you letting yourself get smacked in the head so many times anyway." Despite the insult Buffy gave him a quick hug as well, obviously her other half of apologising for not mentioning the memory thing earlier.

"Huh, and here I thought that now Xander wasn't some alien ninja things would go back to normal around here, didn't expect the three of you freaks to become a thing..." The interruption drew all eyes to the library entrance where Cordelia was stood in her usual scornful manner.

"Why Cordelia, that almost sounds like jealousy to me, upset that I'm getting a lot of attention? Or that you aren't the one providing it?" Xander had no idea where that came from, he would normally have responded with a snide remark to try and get her to go away, though judging by the slight flush on Cordelia's face it might not have been a bad approach.

"W-what? Disgusting Harris, why would I want to join your harem? I feel dirty all over just at the thought. And here I trying to be nice and tell Buffy that this guy called Ford was looking for her..." And with that Cordelia turned on her heel and stalked back out of the library with the door slamming shut behind her.

"X-xander... Did you just scare Cordelia off with one line?" Trust Buffy to get to the heart of the matter, though Xander couldn't help but be slightly pleased at the result, things could have gotten a lot worse before they had finally managed to have gotten her out of the library...

"Yeah, though I don't think that line will work with you guys... Willow?" Xander was distracted from his thoughts as he turned his head to find his redhead friend frozen in place, red in the face.

"Ah, let's leave her for a minute Xan, she's probably a little distracted is all. Let's concentrate on you and your new manliness..." Buffy's attempt to distract him didn't work as well as Xander pretended it did, both to stop her trying more physically and also because he didn't want to bring up that it was an odd feeling from the jumbled memories that was making him feel that Buffy was trying to hide something on Willow's behalf.

"Manliness? Why Ms Summers, I do believe that maybe the nicest thing you have said about me today..." Xander paused as he remembered what Cordelia had actually said before she stormed out, gesturing to the door with a smile.

"Perhaps you can tell me more about the new me whilst we go find this Ford guy who is looking for you..." Then Xander could freak out at the fact an alien had been messing around with his body and his reflexes, probably with lots of ice cream and a sappy movie round at Willow's...

*Line Break*

' _Hello young Terran... I am glad that you survived the awakening process...'_ Xander had been having a nice dream, kicking vampire ass with his new powers and impressing Buffy enough that she would ditch deadboy and actually go out with him, but the new voice in his head quickly put him on alert as he span round.

Zeratul was stood across from him, the dark prince every bit as enigmatic and quietly intimidating in person as he had seemed in the Starcraft game, though given the very obvious attempt at a smile that the Protoss warrior gave he was obviously not here to do anything bad... Or that is what Xander hoped anyway. Zeratul suddenly held up his hand and shook his head, confusing Xander until his voice spoke once more.

' _Before you try and ask questions, I will have to apologise as this is only a mental 'memory' as it would be called in your human tongue, I can only give you the message I placed in your mind rather than answer questions or tutor you. Such a large mental impression would have almost certainly destroyed your mind, so you will have to develop your new found skills without my direct oversight.'_ That was... comforting, though at least the wizened psychic had been considerate enough not to risk accidentally melting his brain or something equally as catastrophic.

' _But this message is not to offer such grizzly alternatives as to inform you what I have done Alexander, for such powers cannot be left in the hands of the unprepared or ill trained."_ Alarm bells were ringing in Xander's head now, something that had last happened when he stared down the Master for all of three seconds.

' _All Terran's have psionic potential, though very few realise the connection exists or have enough power to utilise it, and this can be enhanced if the correct methods are used. Unfortunately, this is not what happened in your case, my arrival was the psionic equivalent of being hit by an immortal round."_ Good news, was it too much to ask that he be given good news just once in his life?

" _Your psionic connection is therefore very powerful, probably similar to that of a Protoss Templar initiate, and that is without any training. However, until you gain sufficient control over your energies, you will be unable to consciously control them. This means that powerful emotions will cause your powers to erupt, with unpredictable results, and that you will subconsciously use your powers to boost your own abilities, though this can and will push your body beyond what it can handle if you let it.'_ Huh, well that explained what happened with that flip he tried with Buffy at least, couldn't his new powers come with a user's guide or something?

' _With this in mind, we will begin your first lesson, where you will learn the art of Khalesh'bakei, or as you Terran's refer to it, meditation...'_ Yeah, somehow Xander expected meditation would be involved somewhere, it was almost always the first and most boring step in any superpower's development...


	3. It's more than a feeling!

After a night of 'training', Xander had thought he would be too tired to care about much else, but somehow he felt more awake than he ever had in a history class before. Willow had even given him a few odd looks when he started taking notes, but it was either that or ruminate on Buffy and the arrival of her 'childhood friend' Ford.

Xander knew it might just be jealousy kicking in again, which is why he hadn't mentioned it to Buffy after they had met Ford yesterday, but that wasn't going to stop him from doing his own investigation into the young man's rather sudden appearance. However, one of the things that Zeratul had warned him about being a psionic was that his powers would enhance his senses, meaning that the 'hunches' that people normally had about things were amplified to him.

It was bugging him even now in the relative solitude of the computer lab, because without even thinking about it he _knew_ that of the two other boys in the room had secrets they were hiding from each other, one hiding the bruises and limp that came with being abused outside of school and the other the feelings he had for his friend that he knew would never be returned.

Luckily for his remaining sanity, just because Willow was the techno whizz amongst the scoobies didn't mean that Xander was entirely incapable, and he'd watched her work her magic enough times to know what it was he needed to look for. Focussing on the screen in front of him, it didn't take him long to find out what he needed to prove his instincts were right, Ford had lied to them about transferring here from Los Angeles.

And when it came to Sunnydale, if someone lies about something like that whilst trying to make friends with Buffy, they were definitely a bad guy and most probably needed staking in one form or another. But when it came to stubbornness, Xander knew there was only one person in the Scoobies worse than him and that was Buffy, which meant that going to her with this information was probably just going to cause a fight between them that would push her further into danger.

"Time to go find Wils, hopefully she isn't going into one of her 'you're just jealous' rants..." Standing and preparing to leave the lab, Xander started thinking through where he might find his stalwart red haired companion, ignoring the odd looks he got from the two other inhabitants at him mumbling to himself.

' _Well, she's not in the computer labs, so she is either in the library or in the home room... Library it is then, unless she is looking for me or Buffy...'_ Not the most intellectual of deductions, but Xander knew that the pair of them were relatively predictable at the best of times, and other than an emergency it really didn't bother either of them.

The walk through the halls was every bit as difficult as the two occasions Xander had been forced to traverse the school that morning, and he was thankful that he hadn't developed telepathy as Zeratul had warned him the power was common amongst psionics, with his currently shitty control he would have been sectioned the moment it had fully kicked in.

That or killed for spilling everyone's secrets he thought a little morbidly, as he watched Harmony hug her long time boyfriend whilst sending one of his fellow football players a far too seductive wink over his shoulder, if he knew everyone's inner thoughts the double talking would definitely get to him. He managed to keep himself from doing anything too weird before reaching the library, entering in what he hoped was a positive manner with a soft shout to announce his presence rather than risk freaking Buffy out if she was here.

"Xander!" Still, the new powers weren't all bad as he intercepted the speeding Rosenberg express with a small smile on his face, given the speed that Willow was travelling he would probably have ended up on the floor if not for his subconscious boost to his muscle strength his powers supplied him.

"Oof!" Obviously Willow had either forgotten about his powers or had expected him to give a little ground as she nearly bounced off of him with the momentum she was carrying, only Xander grabbing her arms gently stopping her careening into a bookcase or to the floor.

"Good to see you too Wils, though maybe a little less like a speeding train next time? As much as I like having pretty girls run into my arms, I prefer it if they don't try and give me a full body bruise whilst doing so..." She blushed, which wasn't exactly headline news given any compliment about her would evoke a similar reaction, but the warm smile she gave him before speaking was something that she only gave him and Buffy.

"Well maybe if you didn't act as a human wall and let a girl run straight into you that wouldn't be a problem? Or do you like the opportunity to sweep us off our feet afterwards?" Another thing Xander loved about Willow, as she realised what she had just said and tried to shy away with an even more crimson face, was that if she wasn't thinking about it she could be just as quick witted as he was on occasion.

"As much as I want to let this moment continue..." And then the moment was ruined, Angel stepping forth from the shadows he so loved, Xander just about managing to resist the subconscious urge to light up his warp blade and fall into a combat stance, which was good because as far as he knew no-one knew he could still utilise the weapon and that made it one hell of a trump card.

"Dead boy, little old for school aren't you?" Willow cast him a reproachful look, but Angel merely shrugged his jibe off without responding, letting Willow fill him in on what the 'good' vampire was here for.

"Xander please, not now okay? Angel has brought up something that we need to look into, and Buffy isn't going to like it..." Huh, looks like it wasn't just him looking into Ford then, now he just had to work on making sure he gave the right surprised face when Willow revealed the information about him and then Xander could mock Angel for being jealous without risking his own actions being questioned...

!"£$%^&*()_+

"I am still sticking with, 'tell Buffy and then wait for Ford to fuck up' rather than 'follow Ford to creepy warehouse where anything could be waiting for us without telling anyone where we are going', but that is obviously just me..." Despite his moaning, Xander knew that anything short of a Master level problem wouldn't be able to stop them at least getting away if they needed to, between him and Angel they would be able to deal with a few vampires if necessary.

No his primary reason for being irritated was that he had let Willow talk him into doing this by themselves and not telling Buffy until they had proof, which she would take as them digging up dirt on her friend behind her back and be mad at them for it, which she would then probably take out on him in the new after school training sessions they were starting up. The bruises from the session they had just before starting this fool's errand were already making him regret moving around, he would be lucky to get away with a dislocated shoulder or a broken arm after pissing Buffy off.

"Oh stop being a baby nerd-boy, or is the fact you are no longer able to teleport and use that blade of yours mean that even your false bravado has fled you now?" If it weren't for the fact that Angel had argued quite adamantly that Xander come with them in case of trouble Xander would have thought that the vampire was spoiling for a fight, but given the circumstances that was probably as close to a manly pep-talk the two would ever get to in this life.

"This coming from the guy sneaking behind Buffy's back and spying on her childhood friend out of 'concern'? I am sure if I look up mature and accepting in the dictionary I would find your face right there..." Before the vampire could react with more than an angry snarl Xander held up his hand and stopped them all from rounding the last corner they had seen Ford going around.

They were on the outskirts of Sunnydale, in one of the now run down industrial areas from the town's glory years, a location that only made Ford seem that much more suspicious. After waiting a few seconds just in case Ford was being paranoid, though maybe it wasn't paranoia if they were in fact following him, Xander slowly peeked round the corner. Luckily Ford didn't seem to be concerned about being followed, the Los Angeles boy talking with someone at the entrance to one of the abandoned factories before the pair of them headed inside.

"Clear, Ford has gone into the second Factory entrance into this building, met with a girl about our age who seemed to be waiting for him." Turning back to the other two, Xander decided to ask the question that had been bugging him since they had started this little hunt.

"So, what do we do now?" At this Willow merely beamed and gestured to the structure across the road, an abandoned canning factory from the looks of the signs, the girl pulling a dark hat and gloves from her bag whilst Angel merely sauntered over with his usual level of nonchalance.

"Great, a stake out... Not as if I have any homework to worry about or anything..." Now he was wishing he hadn't decided to leave his school rucksack at Willow's, at least he could have done some maths or something whilst he waited...

!"£$%^&*()_+

"Xander, what are you doing here?" Given it was almost 10 o'clock at night, Xander was wondering that himself, but somehow his argument that they should sit Buffy down together in the morning to let her know what they had found turned into him agreeing to visit himself.

' _Just because Dead-boy thinks that Buffy is pissed with him for some reason...'_ The fact that the vampire had realised his presence might be detrimental was great and all, it in fact showed that the vampire was capable of making mature and rational decisions every now and again, but Xander knew he would really have to build up a resistance to Willow's pleading to avoid being offered up as the sacrificial lamb like this again.

"Are friends not allowed to pop over every now and again to see each other? Or is it that you would have prefered me to be Angel popping by instead?" The jest didn't get the usual response he expected from the usually upbeat and quick thinking slayer, instead of a witty retort or a sigh at his 'jealousy' he saw Buffy slump against the counter top with a miserable expression on her face.

"Honestly? Given that Angel only seems to turn up these days to tell me bad news, as well as the fact that I know he is still hiding stuff from me, I imagine him coming here right now would have led to us fighting..." Huh, seems dead-boy's instincts are 'dead on' for once, though the fact he had decided not to come himself was probably not going to go down well with Buffy in a minute.

"Sounds like you need the sage advice of Master Xander, whose wisdom and understanding is only expanded by the fact that I was possessed by a centuries old alien philosopher/shadow warrior..." It was probably a little ridiculous even for him, but it brought a smile back to Buffy's face for a whole of three seconds so it was almost definitely worth it.

"Definitely not letting your new gifts go to your head at all? I'm fairly certain that is what you said after I kicked your ass after school today..." Oh, if that is how Buffy wanted to play then Xander would happily reply in kind.

"In the same way you promised not to keep going all 'I am the slayer and you are all at risk being around me?' You still try and _subtly_ insert the idea into conversation at least once a week..." Maybe the hand gesture indicating inflection around the word subtly had been a little much, but it had stopped Buffy moping at least, or at least it had until...

"And given the fact you are here now, the day after my childhood friend appears in Sunnydale, means that you have been off by yourself probably getting into danger investigating him..." Obviously the shock at being discovered so easily showed on Xander's face as Buffy giggled darkly before eying him critically.

"I am not stupid you know, to be honest I was up this late because I was expecting Angel to have been the one looking into him after our disagreements last night and then come over to warn 'the naive trusting slayer'..." Yeah it was as he had thought, Willow talking her parents into letting him stay round hers twice a week wasn't worth getting Buffy-mauled, which was what almost certainly was going to happen in the next couple of minutes.

"To be fair, I was all for coming to you about what we found straight away, but you know how Willow is..." Unless he threw the other two under the rampaging bus that was an angry Buffy Summers, especially as neither of them could refute the fact even if they had been here.

Buffy was clearly angry, that much was clear by her stony expression and whitening knuckles, but she had the presence of mind not too lash out it seemed, though that didn't mean Xander hadn't mentally prepared himself to dodge out of the way... You know, just in case.

"She does have you wrapped around her little finger, and given your white knight complex you wouldn't just let her run off by herself..." There was the opportunity for him to get a good dig at Angel at this point, given the souled-vampire was the one who had gone to Willow in the first place, but Xander managed to resist the temptation.

Whilst it would be a way of annoying the vampire, which was always a plus, Xander knew it would not rub Buffy the right way given her mood about the broody one right now. Besides, as it was it sounded like Buffy had assumed it was Willow being concerned for her and Xander protecting Willow whilst she was doing it, which was probably the best case for both him and everyone involved really.

"Someone has to protect her from the things that go bump in the night when she gets carried away with these investigations, and she is adamant that we shouldn't have to drag you into everything..." Dead boy owed him for this, especially as Buffy's face morphed into a tired grin that expressed her thanks at not running to her straight away.

"Thanks, though at least tell me where you are going next time so that I can not worry about _what type_ of stupid thing you are doing and merely worry about the fact that you are doing it. Now, as much as I want to leave it at that and just go to bed, what have you found and more importantly, what is Ford doing in league with at least one vampire that I know of..." Buffy was not really one to ignore the elephant in the room it seems, but her blunt and straightforward manner was one of the reasons why the two of them got along so well, so Xander couldn't really regret the hint to move onto the meat of the manner.

"Well, I had a bad feeling about Ford after meeting him, and yes I know you're the one with the 'slayer sense' but how many times has that nearly missed something?" Whilst it was clear that Buffy knew he had a point, her unimpressed look that had started when he mentioned his bad feeling remained...

Good job that his mother thought he was staying over at Willow's then, or at least that's what she'd know if she had been remotely near sober when he had shouted it to her before leaving...

 **A/N: I know, I know, far too long between chapters but that's just how my life is rolling at the minute. Be glad you got this one.**

 **Anyway, onto the story, so many fics with Xander having powers rapidly move him to nearly the same level as Buffy... In doing so destroying the purpose of both Buffy and Xander as part of the Scooby gang. This will not happen in mine, or at least Xander's growth will be in line with Buffy's for the most part. Yes he has had a small power boost, and can probably fight one or two vampires quite handily, but Spike will still kick his Arse along with all the other major villains along the way.**

 **Xander's powers will be more passive and support based than direct combat at first, primarily because that is the easiest and safest way to develop his psionic powers, or at least that is my opinion...**

 **Let me know what you think guys!**


	4. Lie to me

Ford was nervous, that much Xander would have been able to tell even without his new powers, as the newest threat to Buffy's existence moved towards the warehouse he and the others had scoped out the day before. But given how many holes in his story had already appeared, enough that even Buffy had been suspicious before Xander popped by to 'drop the bomb', the kid had every right to be.

"God damnit, I have one experience with a veteran alien possessing me and I can't seem to stop myself from suddenly thinking everyone our age is a brat..." His griping brought out a subdued giggle from Willow, who was tucked into his right hand side on the first floor of the warehouse across from where they had watched Ford enter two days before, Willow waiting for him to give the all clear for them to continue 'the hunt', as she liked to call it.

It was definitely a strange role reversal compared to their previous adventures, with Buffy playing the role of 'bait' as she accompanied Ford to his 'club' whilst Xander and Willow kept an eye out for trouble. Angel would be joining them after it got dark, but if Buffy was right about Ford's dealing with Vampires then Dead-boy wouldn't be the only Vampire they would have for company, and in all honesty Xander would prefer to deal with Spike rather than Angel right now.

"Yeah, the way you dressed me down after going with Angel to see what Ford was hiding in there reminded me of my Dad, or maybe my Grandad..." Willow's attempt at a joke merely emphasised why Xander was angry with Dead-boy, who had thought it was perfectly acceptable to take Willow into a potential slayer-trap without even giving her a stake.

Admittedly it wasn't like Angel had twisted his best friend's arm into joining him, Willow had managed to retain a enthusiastically naive perspective of what the Scoobies did even with the whole 'Buffy died' thing that happened last year. That naivety didn't stop her rarely seen temper flaring up when he had tried to express his concern over Angel's actions, and though he didn't agree that he was in as much danger as she was now given Zeratul's teachings, the fight had mellowed when he admitted that prior to Halloween she had a point.

It had been a hard thing to admit, especially given his determination to prove himself worthy of being a part of the group as more than a comedy figure. But, if there was one thing Zeratul's fractured memories had shown him so far, pride was probably the most dangerous thing Xander would have to deal with short of another Master type vampire turning up. Spike was the scary type of psycho that made him a pain in the ass to deal with, but he didn't send a shiver up Xander's spine in quite the same way that ancient monster had pulled off quite so effortlessly.

"That's the problem with you young ones these days, no respect for their elders, why back in my day..." The old man voice, as well as the wagging finger impression that Xander had been on the receiving end of more than once from Rosenberg senior, sent Willow into another fit of giggles. A moment later she did her best to silence them, as the sun disappeared behind the horizon and dark figures began to appear from different streets around the factory Buffy had gone into.

There were at least a dozen of them, including amongst them a now familiar blot of almost white hair that had Xander's hackles rise for a moment. There was a moment, as the anger of seeing Spike coursed through him, that everything around him jumped into high definition and slowed, the slight headache causing Xander to remember Zeratul's warning about his emotions and the effects they would have on his psionics.

The memory made him realise that he was losing control of his powers as Zeratul had prophesied, a thought that had Xander closing his eyes and focusing on the first of the meditation techniques he had spent hours getting to something of an acceptable level.

"Xander, are you alright?" Willow's worried comment merely reinforced the need for him to get himself together, whilst he had plans to reveal the extent of the 'upgrade' he had received to her as soon as he had a decent control over it, a random outburst of psionic power was not what he had in mind.

The meditative techniques that Zeratul had taught him were split into different levels, depending on what the end goal was for the individual Protoss learning them. The simplest was the one favoured by the High Templar Zealots, sharpening and focussing the emotions of anger and vengeance like a blade, to augment the physical boost that came with such strong emotions for physical combat.

It was useful, that Xander had no doubt given the speed and strength of the Zealots on the charge, but it was far too flashy for what he had in mind. Evidently so did ZerAtul, as he had stated from the beginning that the technique was only a stepping stone on the path to the more advanced techniques that the shadow master had in mind.

For now though, Xander focused on releasing the energy in a manner that Willow wouldn't notice, expelling the wave of psionic energy like a radar system to detect life forms.

"I'm fine Wils, just wondering when dead boy is going to stop lurking in the shadows..." Or dead forms as the case maybe, though given Xanders shitty control he was internally impressed it had worked well enough even at such short range.

"Just making sure you weren't getting watched, Spike is many things but he isn't stupid, unless he actually thinks Ford has succeeded in fooling us all..." Angel had a point, so Xander drew his eyes away from the mob of vampires congregating in the street below to scan the surrounding buildings.

It took a few seconds, but his 'sixth sense' started making him nervous about the building across and to the left of them, and that was as good a hunch as any they had to go on. He gestured as Angel walked over to the window they were using, and after a few seconds the 'good' vampire nodded and ducked back from the sill once more.

"So we wait until Spike and his cronies enter the warehouse, Willow and I head out to draw out his watch dogs and you jump them while they try and jump us?" It was as close to a plan as Xander could run with given the circumstances, there was no way that they were going to be able to sneak up on a vampire in these conditions, even ones of the level Spike used as cannon fodder.

"Sounds good, I will start working my way around now, try not to die." Abrupt and to the point, not that Angel was anything less when dealing with anything that wasn't warm blooded and female, for whom he tried to be the helpful bad boy type it seems.

"Glad to see you boys getting along…" Willow's attempt at optimism wasn't fooling anyone, Xander taking one last view of the gang of vampires Spike was just starting to lead into the warehouse before grabbing the crossbows he had borrowed from Giles.

"Come on, time to play the clueless scoobies again…" It was an act that was certainly getting old from Xander's viewpoint, but as he was trying to keep his abilities to himself for now he could only show so much improvement in such a short time frame.

Willow took the crossbow he offered her a little shakily, a reminder that not everyone had spent every available moment in the last couple of weeks training their subconscious hand eye coordination and perception skills, both of which would help with the use of such a weapon.

"Just aim for the chest and fire, we only need to draw them out so that Angel can jump them anyway." Xander did his best to sound confident, and he felt it even as they started towards the steps at the back of the warehouse space, even if Angel was slow on the uptake he should be able to take a couple of Vamps.

Stepping out into the quickly darkening dusk Xander regretted not bringing a torch, the street lights were not activating as they had done on previous nights, a quick glance up to one of them showed that Spike's Vampires had shattered all of them. Thankfully the watchers Spike had waiting for them did not take long to appear, a tall and broad Vampire dressed in a fur lined suit and jacket leapt from the third floor window space. He slammed into the ground knee and fist first, with a thud that Xander could feel through the floor as well as the air.

"Nice superhero landing, got to be hard on the knees though right?" Xander's confident bantering tone faded slightly as two more vampires followed a little less dramatically, a short gaunt woman and an overweight middle aged man.

"The food talks, will be good to shut him up…" The gaunt woman was the most obviously riled up by his lack of concern, morphing into her 'Vamp face' and charging forward, the overweight man following at a lumbering run behind her.

Willow fired first, as Xander knew she would, the bolt catching the Gaunt woman in the stomach and jerking her body back from the momentum. She screamed, in a mix of anger and pain, too distracted by the pain to notice Xander's bolt as it caught her square in the chest.

Xander had already thrown the crossbow behind him as the female vampire turned to dust, the weapons were not exactly easy to get hold of and even harder to repair after all, when the overweight man was upon him. Thankfully the Vampire was obviously not used to his prey being able to fight back, his punch straightforward and badly formed to the point his entire bodyweight was behind it, making it easy for Xander to dodge it and trip him as he went past.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that pride comes before a…" Before being possessed by Zeratul Xander would never have caught the rustle of cloth and cloth from behind him, as he turned to both mock and finish his now sprawled opponent with the stakes he kept hidden up his sleeve, but the Dark Templar seemed to have left behind a sixth sense for being attacked from behind that was better than anything Xander had seen on the Hellmouth before.

Still, hearing the attack coming didn't make it any easier for him to react in time, Xander only managed a half turn and a hasty arm block before the roundhouse kick slammed into him and sent him flying backwards. Despite the pain of his probably fractured tibia, Xander managed to slam his feet into the ground and slow his flight to a slide as he saw the suited Vampire lower his right leg thoughtfully.

"Strange." The suited vampire spoke for the first time, and whilst there was a clipped accent it was one that Xander didn't recognise, Willow backing away from him whilst doing her best to reload her crossbow.

"Surprised that your goons aren't all that impressive? I don't mean to state the obvious but they are called that for a reason." Xander was wondering at this point where the hell Angel was, whilst this Vampire wasn't Master or even Spike level he certainly was a cut above the Sunnydale norm.

"True, but that is what you get for accepting vermin into your ranks. No, I am more surprised that you are still standing human, my kicks can break bricks after all. If you were a woman I would suspect that you were somehow a second Slayer…" The Vampire cut off as the overweight Vampire managed to get back to his feet, only for a crossbow bolt from Willow to dust him a moment later, whilst at the same time a familiar trenchcoated figure appear off to their left.

"Better late than never dead boy…" Xander shuffled to his left as the suited Vampire looked between them with an almost amused expression on his face, trying to put himself between it and Willow in case he tried something.

"Couple of stragglers I thought you would prefer not coming at us from behind, sorry you had to fight for yourself for a minute there…" Ouch, that was a nice one by Angel's standards, and Xander was too distracted to think of another retort.

The tense stand off seemed to stretch into eternity, though in reality it was probably only a couple of minutes, before the sound of the warehouse door made all four of them cast a glance in it's direction. Xander couldn't help the wave of relief that washed over him at the sight of the human vampire lovers as they ran as fast as they could away from the place, Spike wouldn't have let them go unless Buffy was in control.

"Looks like your little Slayer is once again triumphing over the Bloody Bastard, which means that she is probably on her way out here in a few minutes. Whilst I would enjoy another chance to test my skills, especially against such an interesting human, I do not think 4 on 1 odds are the type I wish to give into the hands of the gods." Angel looked like he wanted to protest as the suited Vampire started to back up, but Xander shook his head as Angel looked in his direction.

They weren't here to kill every Vampire they could, making sure Buffy got out of the warehouse safely was the objective and that was what he was going to focus on.

Besides, he was currently doing his best to focus his psionics to his left arm in an attempt to speed up the healing process, otherwise he was going to have to come up with an excuse for his arm being in a sling again…

!"£$%^&*()_+

It was an hour after the Slayer and her companions had left the warehouse area that a dark figure ghosted back up the road, making sure that the area was clear before he approached the warehouse door. Gripping the entrance bolt with a single large hand, the suited vampire pulled it firmly up and out of the way before wrenching the door open in a single motion.

"You took your bloody time…" Spike was trying to play down this most recent loss, that much was obvious by his easy going slouch and sarcasm, but there was a tension in his jaw that spoke a different story.

"I was asked to delay any reinforcements the Slayer might have whilst you and your… pets dealt with her, which is exactly what I did until it became clear you weren't going to hold up YOUR end of the bargain William." The use of Spike's human name had the effect the suited Vampire was looking for, Spike shifting into his Vamp face and clenching his fists until his palms bled.

"Don't push me you Russian bastard, your fancy fighting moves won't stop me putting you back into the ground if I think for one second…" The Russian chuckled and waved off Spike's threat with the casualness of someone who didn't care, infuriating the white haired vampire even more.

"I have no interest in a power play over your little freakshow Sire, most of them aren't worth the stakes the Slayer will use to kill them. Now, we have 5 hours before sunlight, and I assume you want to be back before we get burned to a crisp correct? Wouldn't want your newest rat to awaken without a pack to use him as a meat shield would we?" For a moment the Russian thought he might have gone too far, Spike's fangs showing as he growled ominously at the mention of the human corpse behind him, when Drusilla's hand came to rest upon his shoulder.

"Yes, I am tired my love, and this is not his time." In an instant Spike was back to normal, fawning over his sire in a manner not dissimilar to an overly affectionate dog, the Russian stepping back out of the way as the two moved past him and into the street.

As the rest of Spike's group trudged out after the two of them and into the darkness, the Russian took one last look into the warehouse before turning away and snorting disdainfully.

"My time indeed…"

!"£$%^&*()_+

"Lie to me." Buffy was frustrated, tired and above all angry at the world as she rather petulantly asked Giles to do something that he had as a Slayer's watcher sworn he would never do.

It wasn't even about having to stake her former crush, though the fact that such a thing didn't affect her _too_ greatly didn't help matters inside her own head. There was the unresolved issues she had with Angel, who was still avoiding the discussion of who that woman was he had been talking to and she had held hostage against Spike, not to mention school and all the issues that came with that.

"We live in a supernatural world that most people would dream of being in for even a day, and despite all of the shit that we have to deal with I like to think that we are doing okay. We've got our British dad who is far too high strung for his own good, the tough go getter tomboy daughter who won't listen to her own advice, the brainac whizzkid of the school and of course the hunky and handsome man of women's dreams yours truly…" Buffy was surprised when it wasn't Giles that replied, looking over to where Xander was leaning on a gravestone about twenty yards away, the boy exuding a warm confidence even as he clicked his finger and shook his head ruefully.

"Oh wait, hunky and handsome is dead boy, still don't know what you see in him Buff. Still, my point is something I've picked up from having the life of a 700 year old alien that lived in my head and faced down something threatening to destroy their universe. Life isn't going to be easy, if it was no-one would want to become a vampire in the first place like those saps we saw today. But look at this way, how many of our school mates have died in the last year and a half?" The boy pushed himself off the gravestone and started walking over in their direction as he asked his obviously rhetorical question, stopping next to Giles as she brushed herself off from Ford's dusting.

"Being at the forefront of this fight is definitely not what I would call my 'big plan', but I would gladly take this over being some random schmuck that gets Vamped without having a chance to fight back, and I know that deep down you would feel the same way…" Buffy couldn't help but smile slightly as Xander of all people gave her a pep talk, it wasn't exactly Shakespeare but it had the right effect in the boy's own bumbling self deprecating manner.

"Why are you here Xander? You should still be resting your arm." She knew exactly what he was doing here, the semi concealed stake in his waistband told her all she needed to know, but for some reason she felt the need to ask.

"Couldn't sleep, so I was just taking a small walk to clear my head, wouldn't want to be tired for the big math test tomorrow…" He said the last part with such dry humour, including the excited hand gestures that Willow did on occasion, that she couldn't help but laugh.

It was the last thing she expected to do this night, and short as it was it relieved some of her melancholy mood, which was no doubt exactly what Xander intended. Doing her best to straighten her face into her best 'Giles look', she turned and fixed Xander with her gaze, hoping he could catch the unspoken thanks that came with the single word response she retorted with.

"Liar…"

 **A/N: Dear gods above, there were times where I thought I was never going to finish this chapter, I think it sat with less than the starting 500 words for most of a year. But I made it, and we have now done 2 WHOLE EPISODES of a long running series… This fic is going to be a long running one I can tell…**

 **Hope you all like it, the Russian is an OC that will be explained further in future chapters, as much to add a little more plot pre-Angelus as anything else. It's nice to have a bad guy who isn't a mook but also isn't main character level of difficulty, and those are quite few and far between in the first couple of seasons in my opinion...**


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